Good work
Just finished reading “Shackling bill gets House nod.” (News, May 13.)
This is just a note to congratulate you on your efforts to get legislation passed to limit the unnecessary and inhumane practice of excessive shackling of women prisoners in labor.
You have done what good journalists should be doing. That is, reporting on and pursuing social issues that are unjust and unfair to our citizens. I know that it may take guts to do so, at times. You done good, Pamela. I am proud of you.
Forrest (Woody) Leigh/Boulder
Danish is right
Paul Danish tells us that when we visit Arizona, there is no need to carry ID if you’re a citizen.
He is right. Just explain to the officer inquiring if you are here legally that you are a citizen and the officer will apologize and send you on your way.
Ted Weverka/Boulder
More info, please
(Re: “Coming full circle,” cover story, May 20.) I’d like to comment on a fine article by Heather May Koski.
Great job on bringing a vivid snapshot of Scott Harrison’s vision and passion to the Weekly. Only one small criticism — you forgot to name the date and time of the opening day, and no website/phone number to get more info. Don’t feel alone. Omissions like this are all too common in small publications. Anyway, nice article!
Ralph Robertson/Broomfield
Old farts, right-wing nuts
Sen. John McCain and Focus on the Family should know that the Israeli military, possibly the most ferocious fighting force in the world, is comfortably integrated with gay and straight soldiers. The armies of Europe are also mostly open to gays and straights.
The U.S. military wastes millions by kicking out highly trained and competent soldiers, only because they are gay.
Young people know that their friends include gays and straights. The problem is old farts and right wing nuts.
Nathaniel Batchelder/Oklahoma City
Show us your ‘papers’
Republican Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona signed the nation’s toughest bill on illegal immigration into law on April 23; its aim is to identify and prosecute illegal immigrants.
President
Obama strongly criticized it, and those in favor of the bill were quick
to deny that racism had anything to do with its passage.
Any
American who has been paying attention to right-wing pundits and tea
party activists will no doubt make the statement that the signs at
Freedomworks/Fox News-sponsored rallies across our nation call that
assertion into doubt.
While
some could easily conclude that, if not racist, right-wing Americans
merely have doubts about the patriotism of those persons whose name
ends in a vowel.
I can believe that as easily as the notion that racism disappeared after 9/11, as Fox employee Bill O’Reilly stated recently.
I
believe thinking Americans are not as gullible as that, but if they
are, Tom Tancredo and Jon Caldara right here in Colorado should be
prepared to show their birth certificates when asked to prove their
citizenship if they’re traveling through Arizona.
Come to think about it, I would like to see their “papers” myself.
Tommy Holeman/Longmont
Buy time with Coffman
I am a federal
employee working for the Mine Safety and Health Administration and live
in the 6th Congressional District of Colorado — Mike Coffman’s
district, which includes 22,964 federal workers and retirees. I also
serve on the Board of Directors of Federally Employed Women (FEW),
which is hosting an event for constituents to meet with their elected
lawmakers to discuss issues of concern to federal workers.
Even though Mr.
Coffman and I do not agree on a lot of issues, I eagerly registered,
turned in my annual leave request (federal workers have to use annual
leave to participate in these types of events) and booked my airline
ticket. However, I then learned from our representative setting up the
meetings that despite a request sent two months in advance, Mr.
Coffman’s staff has said that not one person on the staff can meet with
me and my colleague (who is retired and using her own funds to come to
town).
No
explanation was given. While this kind of treatment of constituents is
simply egregious, it gets better! Within two hours of receiving this
terse denial of a mere 15-minute constituent meeting, this same FEW
representative received via fax a fundraiser letter asking her to spend
$250 to have breakfast with Mr. Coffman! So the Congressman’s staff
cannot spend 15 minutes with two constituents, yet they have time to
create and distribute fundraising solicitations to the person
requesting that very same meeting.
Seems incredulous to me, but it does explain why Congress is “broken.”
Shelly McCoy/Highlands Ranch
Obama a hero
“A hero
ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of
supernatural wonder … the hero comes back from this mysterious
adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.” — Joseph
Campbell Qualities include determination, courage, dedication,
intrepidity, perseverance, gallantry, conviction, selflessness and
bravery.
Joseph Campbell
deemed John Lennon a hero. If Joseph Campbell were alive today, I
believe he would put Barack Obama in the hero category.
David Krest/Paonia
Changing political winds
For most of my
life, the independent American voter has had clear choices between
voting for a liberal candidate or a conservative candidate — usually
either a Democrat or a Republican. Then, depending on the situation at
the time the voter visited the polling booth, he or she could decide which approach would be best for the state or the country.
Based
on the last election, I would have to say that no such clear-cut choice
exists today. Most politicians appear to be very ready to take the easy
way out. Any high school student given basic accounting training and
asked what to do about a deficit could quickly suggest raising taxes.
This solution does not require any effort, intelligence, sacrifice, or
skill. We must ask ourselves if this is what we elected our politicians
to do. In my opinion, it is not!
How
often do we see a politician stand up for what their constituency
really wants or needs? Both sides of the political aisle appear to be
willing to jump onto the politically correct bandwagon, regardless of
the wants and needs of their constituency. The primary concern of the
current crop of politicians appears to be more influenced by the
squeaky wheel than by factual research into perceived needs.
It
might be interesting to research what percentage of graduating college
students major in political science today versus, say, 50 years ago. My
guess would be that the percentage would be considerably higher today.
I would also guess that the reason behind this movement toward majoring
in political science has much more to do with the perceived payoff than
it does the inherent patriotism. I believe that the payoff, and the
ease with which that payoff can be channeled, have caused a major shift
from rock-solid political stances to stances that change with every
politically correct wind that blows.
As
a young boy, I was taught to examine the individual running for office
— to examine his or her background, experience, history and political
record. Then to consider the results of that examination in light of
whatever the current situation in the state or country was, and to make
my choice of who to vote for based on who I truly believed could (and
would) provide the best leadership toward the needed solution. I was
also taught that voting the party line regardless was nothing more that
shouting, “Rah-rah team,” with no intelligent basis for that cheer.
Isn’t
it time we sent a message to would-be career politicians that we want
to know what has happened to the politician who actually made an effort
to truly represent his constituency, the state, and the country, and to
find reasonable solutions to existing problems?
Robert M. Collinsworth/Harrisville, N.H.
Stop abortion in Colorado
Colorado will once
again be allowed to vote to protect the right to life of unborn babies
this fall. A petition to get this issue on the ballot has enough
signatures, and I hope that citizens of Colorado will follow the trend
of Americans who are turning increasingly pro-life.
Over
a majority of Americans now call themselves pro-life. There are many
factors contributing to this trend. Ultrasounds have shown just how
very human unborn babies are. Pro-aborts don’t really even argue
anymore that it’s “just a blob of tissue.” How can they argue that
anymore, since science has proven that life starts from the moment of
conception? So most Americans realize that the unborn are human. If
human (which they are), then why does our country allow this holocaust
to continue?
When
pro-aborts say it’s about a “woman’s right to choose,” they are really
saying a woman has the right to kill her own child. Of course, they
won’t word it like that because they will lose public support, so they
use shameful verbal engineering to cover-up what is really happening.
I’m
confident that if more citizens of Colorado were to see what an
abortion looks like, they would vote to protect the unborn this fall.
With that said, please go to unborn.
info,
and see what it looks like, and please take those images with you this
fall, and please cast your vote to save unborn babies!
Mike Rachiele/Pittsfield, Mass.
Stop Iran now
Iran, under its current
leadership, is the world’s largest sponsor of terrorism and arms
funding and trains Hamas and Hezbollah and other groups whose stated
aims are to destroy Israel and America. Now is the time for the U.S.
and its partners to take effective action to halt Iran’s acquisition of
nuclear arms. Through blocking gas deals, sanctioning of Iran’s
petroleum trade, banking and oil firm restrictions, and diplomatic
isolation of Iran, as well as a naval blockade, Iran could effectively
be prevented from proceeding with its stated goals.
Jody Crane/Denver
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